Tesla accessories

Once you have bought your Tesla, there are a number of accessories that may be prudent to buy, some of them surprising for such an expensive car. We list them here together with the reason why, alternatives if there are any and a handy link to where you can get them.

Dealing with flat tyres

Your Tesla will not come with a spare tyre, nor does it come with run flat tyres, so if you get a puncture and you are potentially stuck. Tesla offer a service where they will tow you up to 50 miles and possibly bring you a replacement wheel if you're near a service centre, but this has a couple of problems. Firstly, you may be over 50 miles from anywhere you know, and secondly, tyre places close overnight which is when you most want to get somewhere safe.

Tyre inflator

Tesla will sell you an air compressor and some cans of "goo" that will fill the tyre and hopefully seal the hole, however there are other makes which are equally good if not better, and for a lot less. For a compressor only, look no further than Ring RAC600 12V Digital Tyre Inflator with Storage Bag and Adaptor Set This works great if you have a slow puncture as you can top up and carry on and repeat if necessary. It's also handy for adjusting your tyre pressure through the year.

Tyre sealant

You may also want to get some sealant in case the puncture is not so slow, although to be honest this is a last resort approach as it makes a mess of your tyre and garages will want you to buy new rather than try and repair. But, for a few pounds, it may well be worth carrying a Holts HT3YA 400ml Tyreweld Emergency Puncture Repair

Tyre repair kit

A better solution if you are at all handy in the DIY stakes is to get a tyre repair kit like a Silverline 380421 Reifen-Reparatursatz. It's not the easiest thing to use but "easy" and "flat tyre" are not words that often go together. Failing that, a decent recovery service from the AA, RAC etc. is a necessity.

Charging cables

Your car will come with a UMC which is a charger you can plug into a 3 pin socket (and charge slowly), a blue industrial commando socket (and charge at between 10 and 20 mph depending on whether its 16A or 32A or if you buy the adaptor and plug into a red 3 phase commando, at 16A you'll get approx. 30 mph. But you may also need other cables.

Extension cable

The slowest way to charge your car is to use the 13A plug and the Tesla supplied UMC. This has a max charge rate of only 10A and little more than 6 miles added for every hour charging, but when needs must, this is the get out of jail option. The cable is relatively short and the use of a good quality extension gives you extra reach, just make sure its rated for 13A and its fully unwound when in use. We use Invero® 4 Way Mains Socket with 5M Metre Extension Lead Reel Cable - Heavy Duty British Approved 13A. Other makes exist, as do other lengths, but just remember that really long leads still need to be fully unwound so either a 5m or 10m long cable are more manageable and can normally get you to a 3pin socket in a garage or through a window.

Type 2 cable

The cable available from Tesla is probably the best one you can buy, but a Type 2 cable is useful for charging at many destination chargers - those that you see in car parks, or at home if you chose a home charging wall box without a tethered cable. There are 2 key elements to the cable, the rating and the length. These cables can support 1 or 3 phases and 16A or 32A, is in effect 4 permutations. All cars can make use of 1 phase, 32A and this is fairly typical in what you encounter, and 3 phase, 16A. In practice that means you need 3 phase 32A. The downside to this is the weight and size as the cable is thicker. It also costs a little more but that is negligible given the benefit. The Premium Fast Charging EV Cable 32amp/3.5meter 7.2kW Mennekes Type 2 to Type 2 with Carry Case is an example. Other makes exist including some which have a charge flap opening button. Length wise, make sure it can reach all 4 corners of the car from where you plug in - 5M is tight, 7M is ample.

16A commando

The UMC comes with a 32A blue commando plug. These can be found out and about, but it's more likely that you'll come across a 16A blue commando socket, often on caravan sites and ferry's, but elsewhere too. The sockets are different sizes and you can't plug a 32A plug into a 16A socket. It's also dubious electrics to buy an adapter as the car will still try to take 32A from a 16A supply and blow fuses. A better, albeit slower option, is to buy a 16A commando to 3 pin plug, something your UMC will support. It's a bit slower, but safer, so long as you don't allow it to get wet. An example is Caravan Hook up adapter 16AMP Plug to 3 Pin UK Socket in Blue.

Dry box

If you go that route or expect to leave cables and connectors outside, you may want a dry box to keep it all safe like a DRiBOX FL-1859-330 IP55 Large Weatherproof Box- Black. The UMC is reasonably water proof as long as not allowed to submerge under water. Personally we've never felt the need but everyone's usage is different.

Car cleaning

We've done a fairly basic article on how to clean your car, and to help you get going, we've a list of products that you may need.

Snow foam

To get as much grime off your car before you touch it with a sponge, use snow foam which leaves a thick foam that can left to dwell and then rinsed off after about 10 mins. The Pro-clean snow foam lance is a good example - this particular one is for Karcher pressure washers so check which one you need before ordering.

Clay bar

Once you've washed your car, and to be honest, two cheap buckets and from anywhere will do, you may need to clay the car to remove rough texture from the paint. A good example is Bilt Hamber Auto Clay Bar Regular 200g. When looking on line, chose one that looks like its from a reputable make as some people sell what is effectively more a putty that sort of works, but can be very sticky and if it grabs the paint can cause scratches.

AutoGlym Super Resin Polish

Once you've cleaned your car, if you want to get it looking its best without attacking the car with a machine polisher, then AutoGlym Super Resin Polish will help boost the shine and fill in some of those fine scratches you can sometime see. Use before applying a wax.

AutoGlym Extra Gloss Protection

For a great top up on top of wax, and as an aid to drying the car simply wipe on when the car is wet, use AutoGlym Extra Gloss Proection which is simply wipe on, leave to go hazy and then a easy buff off.

GTechniq G5 Water Repellent glass coating

Gtechniq do a range of products that can help clean the car as well as provide protection once it's done. Some of these need to be professionally applied such as their Exo and Crystal Serum products, but this is one you can do yourself. Using G% Water repellent coating will help keep your windows clear and smear free, but their whole range, while a little more expensive than other makes, is better quality.